Questions
1. California ranks among the top states in per capita expenditures on a number of government programs (i.e. corrections, law enforcement, general government), but just near or below the national average on expenditures for kids’ programs, including education and Medi-Cal. What are your thoughts on this prioritization of expenditures and what, if any, changes would you make in this regard?
When we fail to address people’s basic needs, we are not addressing the root causes of crime. Public safety is about more than policing; when people have what they need, our communities are safer. We live in the richest state in the US, with one of the largest economies in the world. We should not be at the bottom when it comes to providing basic social services. I have supported rebalancing these priorities and reimagining public safety at the local level and would support this agenda at the state level.
2. California assumes responsibility for abused and neglected children when we remove them from their homes. Therefore, the State is legally obligated to ensure that children and youth in foster care receive vital services and supports to meet their unique needs and find safety, stability and success. How would you strengthen the child welfare system?
Our foster care system must provide safe, stable, and loving homes to the children in our care, as well as opportunities to pursue education and develop into independent adults. I admire the work of Children Now in holding the state accountable for this crucial responsibility. This work is vital to creating safe and thriving communities. As your assemblymember, I would work with your organization and other child welfare advocacy groups to address issues and identify ways we can improve this very important system.
3. California ranks poorly in national reports for supporting families with infants and toddlers. The state does invest in programs like evidence-based home visiting – which provide guidance, offer coaching, and connect parents and caregivers to health and social services – but those only reach about 2% of families with young children. What strategies, if any, do you support to aid new and expectant parents and young children during this critical phase of life?
Our state must invest in supporting young families and work hard to reach them. I would support expanding home visiting programs and working with community-based organizations, trusted messengers, and advocates to expand the reach of these programs. This is also an issue of racial equity, with non-white parents having disproportionately less access to state programs meant to support families. Any efforts to expand access must also address racial inequities.
4. More than 2.75 million young children live in California, with the majority being income-eligible for child care assistance. Yet just a fraction of eligible children have access to subsidized child care spaces, due to insufficient funding for child care capacity. This gap is most pronounced for infants and toddlers, where child care subsidies served only 14% of eligible families (pre-pandemic). What is your position on this issue, and what, if anything, should be done to ensure that all families have access to high-quality child care?
The cost of childcare is an enormous burden on working families. This issue has a disproportionate impact on the career paths and economic independence of women, who are often primary caregivers. As a nation, the United States under-invests in supporting young families, lagging behind nearly every developed country. But California can and should lead the way on this issue. We must increase funding for childcare subsidies while also supporting childcare workers and childcare centers. We must work with childcare advocates and caregivers to identify gaps in the system and how state dollars can be most effectively spent to support more families and children.
5. The average salary of a California public employee is nearly $87,000, while the average salary of a California child care provider is $35,400, and most other professionals who work with kids are also below the public employee average. What are your ideas, if any, about responding to this disparity?
The cost of childcare is an enormous burden on working families. This issue has a disproportionate impact on the career paths and economic independence of women, who are often primary caregivers. As a nation, the United States under-invests in supporting young families, lagging behind nearly every developed country. But California can and should lead the way on this issue. We must increase funding for childcare subsidies while also supporting childcare workers and childcare centers. We must work with childcare advocates and caregivers to identify gaps in the system and how state dollars can be most effectively spent to support more families and children.
6. The latest available data shows California ranks 49th among the 50 states in teacher-to-student ratio, 47th in school counselors, and 46th in school administrators. We also rank near the bottom in terms of school nurses, with approximately one nurse for every 2,400 students and no nurses at all in some smaller counties. What are your thoughts on these rankings, and what, if anything, should be done in response?
I have been proud to stand with teachers and school staff in advocating for better staffing and more funding for our public education system and will continue to do so. Under-staffing of schools is one of our biggest obstacles. The lack of staffing creates a vicious cycle that leads to burnout and turnover, perpetuating the teacher shortage. We should be working to attract the best and the brightest to the teaching profession with higher pay, better working conditions, and more staff.
I was glad to see the legislature’s historic investment in K-12 funding in the recent state budget, but much of this was one-time funds and there is not a plan in place to continue resourcing our schools. I support greater long-term funding for our schools, better staffing, and more progressive taxation to support public education from pre-K through college.
7. California has the highest percentage of kids who are dual language learners, ages 0-5, (60%) and school-age English Learners (21%) in the country. How should the State support these students’ bilingual/multilingual potential? What are your thoughts on how educators in early education and TK-12 can be prepared to assist these students to meet their language development needs?
California’s children are incredibly diverse linguistically. This is both a strength and an equity challenge. We must apply evidence-based approaches to supporting dual language learners in achieving proficiency in both English and their home language. Teachers should receive the training and resources they need to support language learners and help them realize the benefits and potential of our state’s great language diversity.
8. Over the past 40 years, state spending on higher education has dropped from 18% to 12% of the state budget. What is your position on funding for public higher education?
I support better funding for our public higher education system. As political director with AFSCME 3299, the largest union representing employees at the University of California, I worked to increase funding and to ensure that it was allocated to the classroom, to supporting the staff who make the UC run, and to making the UC more accessible. Sufficiently funding higher education is also vital to addressing student debt, which is a crisis that has a disparate effect on communities of color―especially black women. Higher education is a crucial engine of economic mobility and must remain accessible. This means not only funding the UC, but also the CSUs and our community college system, which is the largest higher education system in the country and the first stop for nearly one half of UC graduates and the majority of CSU grads.
9. Over 55% of California’s kids are enrolled in Medi-Cal, but California performs near the bottom amongst all state Medicaid programs when it comes to children’s access to primary care physicians and important childhood screenings, especially for children of color. In addition, many California children lack access to oral health care, vision services, hearing aids, and mental health and substance abuse supports and services. What would you do, if anything, to increase access to these services?
Our healthcare system is expensive, wasteful, and broken. It is driven by profit-seeking insurance and pharmaceutical companies that put profit before people. I support universal healthcare.
10. The suicide rate among Black youth has dramatically increased in recent years. In addition, Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) among youth have grown, but only about one third of youth with an MDE received treatment. What should be done to ensure that more children receive needed mental health supports and services?
We must increase access to mental healthcare for all, but especially to youth of color. While there is a shortage of providers in our state, there is also an unwillingness among HMOs and insurers to recognize that mental healthcare is healthcare. We must put significant resources into expanding our workforce training for mental healthcare providers, make mental healthcare more accessible, and work to remove the stigma of mental health issues through education.